Hold yourself to high standards

When I first got to college in the fall of 2020, I thought I knew what hard work was. I thought I had good values, and that I was disciplined. As I started to witness the upperclassmen, my perception completely changed. I realized that if I wanted to reach higher levels, I had to step up my game.

I sat down and evaluated myself. I had to be completely blunt and honest with myself if I was going to find my weaknesses. It was tough, realizing that I could improve in so many areas. I knew I didn’t want to be mediocre anymore. That's when I decided to see how far I could push myself.

In order to be a high functioning person, you are going to have to push past the threshold that you didn’t think was possible. For me, it started by pushing my limits in ways that were very uncomfortable.

I hated waking up early, so I started to get up at 6am to wrestle. Everyday.

I hate the cold weather and instead of taking shortcuts through buildings, I started taking the long way.

I hated confronting my emotions, so I made myself sit through the uncomfortable ones.

I don’t take elevators, I don’t take shortcuts, and I don’t take the easy way out. The way you do one thing is the way you do all things.

My freshman year of college there were some days that I felt extremely tired at practice, so I would take it lighter. Now, I am able to have a great practice no matter how I feel. I have trained myself to put in 110%, no matter the circumstances. I am consistent, and no one can take that away from me. I have found a place in my mind that can withstand an extreme amount of discomfort.

I wrestle at least two times a day, and it was hard at first. But, now I don’t feel like I need to conserve my energy because I'm okay practicing when I am tired. I actually like to be exhausted at practice, and challenges have become fun for me. It has translated into competition, by the time my opponent gets tired, I feel like I'm just getting started.

I have made my life uncomfortable in many ways, so that I would eventually become resilient to everything. I truly believe that nothing can affect me.

It’s the perfect example of short term discomfort for long term rewards.

It seems as if so many people choose short term gratification, whether it be the use of alcohol, scrolling through social media, eating out. The world is full of people who are willing to sacrifice their goals for immediate comfort. I believe that true champions are able to see the bigger picture, they can find comfort in discipline.

I also think it is important to live a life where the hard lessons find you naturally. You can intentionally make your life harder in order to grow.

Working hard isn’t comfortable, it was never intended to be.

Nothing is going to be perfect and there will always be something that goes wrong, it’s life. Stop waiting for the “right time” because it will never come. You can’t control outside factors, but you can control how you respond.